Tile-stacking machine



July 7, 1925.

E. W. ZEH

lILE STACKING MACHINE Filed July 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

252M85 erg A ro/mm".

July 7, 1925.

E. w. ZEH

TILE STACKING MACHINE Filed July 2 1922 4 IWEIIM. Edmund July 1, 1925.

E. W. ZEH

TILE STACKING CHINE 1154 July 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Patented July 7, 1925.

EDMUND w. ZEH, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

rrLn-srAoxme MACHINE.

Application filed Jui 21, 1922. Serial No. 576,469.

To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that I, EDMUND \V. ZEI-I, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tile-Stacking Machines, of which the following is a specification. i This invention relates in general to machines for handling tile and more particularly to a. machine for expediting the removal of tile from the press forming the same. I

Hereto'fore it has been impossible for an operator to remove tile from a tile press as rapidly as the tile can be produced. and inefiicient operation of the press has thus resulted from the inability of the tile removing operator to keep pace with the press when the same is operated at full capacity.

The primary object of my invention is to provide semi-automatic means for collecting or stacking the tile produced in a plurality of operations so that the press may be continuously and efficiently operated at its full capacity. I

Another object of the invention is to provide machine of this character which can be readily attached to a'tile press or the like and is so formed as to permit the tile to he slid from said press to itself as the. press operator charges the press with a new supply of dust, said machine having means for arranging said tile in rows and being constructed to stack or arrange in superposed layers the tile produced in a plurality of operations of the press.

Further ob'ects ot the invention are to provide a machine of the character described comprising a substantially horizontal guideway adapted to receive a plurality of tile and having a portion of its bottom displaceable or removable to permit the tile thereon to fall by gravity beneath the same, and a vertically movable table I arranged beneath said displaceable portion of the guideway to receive said tile falling therefrom; to provide in such a machine means automatically actuated by movement of said displaceable portion of the guideway upon movement thereof to lower said tableto permit stacking of said tile on said table beneath said guideway, and to obtain other results and advantages as maybe brought out by the fol-' lowing description.

r. slow Referring toth'e accompanying drawings, in which likenumeral's of reference indicate the sameparts throughout the several views, v y

Figure' 1 is a topplan view of a tile stacking machine embodying my invention, showing the same used in connection with a wellknown type of tile press; f

Figure-2 is. a transverse vertical sectional view through the machine taken on the line 22' of Fig. 1; i i

Figure 3 isa side elevation of the tile stacking machine; f

Figure 4- is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through'the machine taken 'on the line 44 of Fig. 2;v I I Figure 5 is a fragmentary transverse sec tional view through theg uideway infthe ma; chine and the tile supporting table. showing the table partially loaded with stacked tile;

' Figure 6 is a detached perspective 'view'ot the movable po'rtionor shutter of thebottom of the guideway, and I f Figure 7 's a detached perspective view of the removable plate carried by the table.

For the purpose of illustrating the principles of my invention I have shown the tile stacking machine used in connection with a'well-known type of tile'press for produc ing tile, comprising a base portion A, a lower die member B and an upper die member C reciprocable on guides D mounted in the base to cooperate with the lower die in form ing the tile..

The tile stacking machine comprises a frame including a base 1 having a pair of spaced and parallel arms 2 projecting therefrom and connected at their outer ends by a tubular cross-piece 3 in which is journaled a shaft 4, the saidcross-piece serving to reenforcethe" arms 2 and provide with the basei a rigid frame; A pair of vertical frame pieces 5 are arranged in-spaced rela tion transversely of the arms '2 and support attheir upper ends aguideway for receiving tile. i

The said guideway comprises spaced and parallel; side pieces, 6 v extending longitudinally of the frame and secured tothe upper ends or the transverse frame pieces 5 in any suitable manner as by means of screws 7. The guideway is provided with a bottom formed in two sections 8 and 9, one of which is stationary and the other of which is movable or displaceable. Said sections are preterably mounted in grooves 60 formed on the I inner faces of the side pieces 6, and are prefis secured to the side pieces 6=at-the end of V the guideway carrying the movable bottom section, said end piece permitting-the mov-' able bottom section of the guideway to slide beneath it and limiting-movement ofthetile with said movable section in .onerdirection longitudinally of the gui'd'eway; The said bottom sections8 an'dj9'are arranged in the same plane so that their upper surfacesform continuations of each other, and the movable section, injthe' present instance the section 9, is provided with a handle 11 at its outer end whereby said section may be slid longitudinally of the gui'de'way. 'lurality of partitions '12 extend longitu' inally of the 'guideway above "the bottom thereof so as to form passages-for -a pluralityof rows of thetile 13 as'cl'earlyi'ndicated in Figure l.

'A vertically movable table14 is arranged beneaththe movable section 9 of the guide Way and ismounted at opposite sides thereof on rack bars 15 i'vertically movable in bearings '16 'it'o'rmed'fo'n the arms-2 of the frame and provided with movable cover plates 17 for closing the bearings and holding tie rack'bars against lateral movement therein. i v

The shaft 4 isprovided adjacent its ends with pinions 18 which mesh with the respe'ct'ive rack bars 15 to actuate the table 14. One end of-the shaft 4 has fixedly mounted thereon a ratchet wheel 20 engaged {a spring, pawl 21 pivotally ,mounted at 22 on a ratchet ZCllSk 23,rotatably mounted on the said shaft and engaged by pawlsi24 and 25 of @an eseapement mechanism for controlling rotation of-the shaft 4. The said pa'wls 24 and 25 are'rigi'dly mounted in spaced relation atone end of a lever 26ipivotallyjmounted intermediate its ends, as at 27,7to the cover plate 17 of one of the bearings-16 for one of the1rackbars15. The end of the-lever 26-opposite ithe pawls 24 and 25fprojects vertically upward to a point adjacent theside pieces6 of the-guidewa'y and is'provitledjwith' an opening28 to-slidably receive a rod '29 carried by the-movable section 9 of the'bottom of theguide'way. The action ofgravity onthe table 14 tends to rotate the shaft '4 in the direction indicated the arrow on Figure 3, but one "of the pawls 2'4 or'25 is normally in engagement with the ratchet disk23 toholdthe shaft againstsu'ch rotation. The rod 2'91is provided'at opposite sidesof the'lever 26 with adjustable abutn'ie'nts30 and 31 so that when the {movable section 9 of the guideway is movedin one direction the abutment 30 en gages the lever 26 and oscillates the same in one direction to release the pawl 24 from 'the ratchet disk 23 and when said movable section '9 is moved'in the opposite direction the abutment 31 engages the lever 26 to release the pawl25 from the ratchet disk 23. -In-this operation one of the pawls 24 or 25' releases the ratchet disk 23 to permit rotation :ofthe shaft 4 and the other ofsaid pawls engages the said ratchet disk to stop said-rotatimr oi the shaft. The relation of the pawls 24 and 25 with the ratchet-disk 23 and the pini'ons 18 and rack bars 151s preferably .such thatth'e table '14 descends a distance equal to substantially one-hail the-thickness of the tile upon ea'ch'movement of the lever 26; and the table isinitially positioned a distance below the movable section 901' the bottomot the guideway a distancegreater than one-half the thickness of one of the tile. To adjust this relative position of'the t'able and the bottom 5f the gi'iideway, the rack bars 15 maybe pro vided at their ends "with adjustable collars 32 carrying set screws 33 to engage the ends of the respective bearings 16 of the rack bars. The top ofthe'tabl'e'1'4 is preferably in the form of a removable plate 34 providedwithahandle '35. I

When the tile stacking machine is to be used in connection with "a tile press,the frame '1 is secured to the base of thepress so that the bottom of the guideway 6 is substantially flush with the top of the lower die member B ofthe press when the same is in discharging position, A number of the partitions '12 are utilizedto divide the guide-Way into a number of passages equal to the number of rows of tile formed by the press:. As the tile are ejected from the press by the dust box, asrdescribed in my co pending application Serial -No. 418,- 891, they are pushed onto the guideway 6 as shown in Fi-gures 1 and 4. The first batch of tile so ejected fr'o'mthe press'will cover the fixed section 8 ofthe bottom of the guideway, and the next batch of tile discharged from the press will move the said first-mentioned batch onto the movable or displaceable section 9 olf 'the bottom of the guideway. The said'movable section is then pulled outwardly from" the guideway by the operator grasping the handle 11, as indicated in dotted lines on Figure 4, and the tile on the said section will then fall by gravity onto the plate 35 on the table 14, movement ofth'e'tile with the movable section of the bottom being preventedby the'end piece 10. "Whenthe said movable section is ,pulled to its outward limit the adjustable abutment '31 actuates the lever 26 in one direction so that the table 14 is permitted to drop a distance equal to onehalf the thickness of the tile, and When'the movable section o-f'the bottom is returned to its normal'po'sit-ion the abutment 30mtu ates the lever 26 in the opposite direction to permit the table 14 to again drop a distance equal to one-half of the: thickness of the tile. This operation is performed each time a batch of tile .is positioned on the movable section- 9 of the guideway, and each batch of tile is thus deposited upon the next preceding batch so as to stack the tile or arrange them in superposed layers- The tops of the uppermost tile are always spaced from the bottom. of the guideway as the movable section 9 is pushed back to its normal position, sothat there is no danger of the said movable section injuring the tile. It will be obvious that the capacity of the table 14 may be varied as desired, but in the present instance the table is adapted to support ten layers of tile each including forty-eight tile. In other words, the table supports forty-eight stacks each including ten tile. After the table is filled to its capacity, the operator removes the plate 3 f with the tile thereon'and conveys the tile to the next desired place. The table 14 is then returned to its normal position, and for this purpose I may provide the shaft 4 with a hand wheel or lever 36. To elevate the table itis thus merely necessary to rotate the hand wheel in a direction opposite to that shown in Figure 3, the pawl 21 slipping over the teeth of the ratchet .20., so that the ratchet disk 23 is not moved.

With my invention it will be understood that the tile press can be rapidly and efliciently operated to produce a large number of batches of tile without stopping, and with an operator always present to operate the movable section f the bottom of the guideway and another operator disposing of the preceding stacks of tile, the operation of the machine can be substantially continuous. 1 j Y l/Vhile I have shown and described a tile stacking machine embodying certain details of construction, it. will be understood that this is only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that the invention may be utilized for stack iug or handling other articles and. objects. Also many modifications and changes can he made in the construction of the machine without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and therefore, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself except as required by 1 the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art. p, j i

Having thus described the invention, what- I claim is: I

1. A machine of the character described includinga substantially horizontal manually reciprocable displaceable support to receive an object-sothat when said support is displaced said object falls by gravity therefrom, a vertically movable'second support arranged beneath said first-mentioned support to receive .said object asit falls from said first mentioned support and movable 2. A machine of the character described I including a manually displaceable support to temporarily receive an object so that when said sup-port is displacedsaid object falls by gravity therefrom, a second support beneath said first-mentioned support to receive said object as it falls, and means operated by said first-mentioned support upon movement thereof for moving said second-mentioned support after said object has been deposited thereon to permit another object to fall from said first-mentioned support to said secondi mentioned support. r

3. A machine-of the character described including a substantially horizontalguideway to receive a plurality of objects and having a fixed portion and a manually displaceable portion, said displaceable portion being adapted to successively receive said objects from said fixed portion and permit them to fall by gravity fromsaid guideway as said displaceable portion is displaced, a vertically movable table arranged beneath said displaceable portion to receive said objects as they fall from said displaceable portion, and means operated by said displaceable portion upon movement thereof for moving said table away from said displaceable portion of the guideway after each deposit of objects upon said table to permit succeeding objects to fall upon the next preceding object in stacked relation.

4. A machine of the character described including a substantially horizontal guideway to receive an object and having a por.. tion of its bottom manually horizontally displaceable so that as said portion is dis placed an object thereon falls by gravity. therefrom, a vertically movable table arranged beneath said displaceable portion to receive said object as it falls, and means operated by said displaceable portion upon movement thereof for moving said table downwardly away from said displaceable portion a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said object upon each complete opera'tionof said displaceable portion.

5. A machine of the character described including a substantially horizontal guideway to'recive an object and having a pen tion of its bottom manually horizontally dis placeable so that as said portion is displaced an obj ect' thereon falls by gravity therefrom, a table arranged beneath said displaceable portion to receive said object as it falls, said table being vertically movable away from fall therefrom by gravity when it is displaced, a vertically movable table arranged beneath said displaceable portion to receive said tile as they fall from said displaceable portion, and means operated synchronously With said displaceable portion to cause descent of said table away from said displaceable portion after said tile fall thereon and permit succeeding batches of tile to fall upon the next preceding batch in stacked relation.

13. The combination with a tile press, of a tile stacking machine comprising a frame provided with a substantially horizontal guideway having a portion of its bottom fixed and another portion of its bottom manually displaceable, said fixed portion being adapted to receive a batch of tile directly from said press and said displaceable portion being adapted to receive said batch of tile from said fixed portion as the nextbatch is discharged from said press, sa d displaceable portion permitting said tile to fall therefrom by gravity When it is displaced, a vertically movable table arranged beneath said displaceable portion to receive said tile as they fall'from said displaceable portion, said table being mounted to descend by action of gravity, escapement means for normally holding said table against descent and arranged to permit such descent step-by-step to receive successive batches of tile upon the next preceding batches in stacked relation, and means operated by said displaceable portion upon movement thereof to actuate said escapement means to permit descent of said table.

EDMUND W. ZEI-L 

